Skate clamp



July 26, 1938. H. F. WHITCOMB,'JR

SKATE CLAMP Filed July 6, 1956 zz imwm 6M Q1 omteys Patented July 26,1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE SKATE CLAMP Application July 6, 1936,Serial No. 89,147

7 Claims.

This invention relates to skates and particularly to improvements in theclamping mechanism by removably attaching a skate to the sole of a shoe.

The clamp structures now in general use for removably clamping a skatebody to the sole of a shoe, comprise clamping elements which arepermanently attached to the foot plate of the skate. Such structuresordinarily include a pair of clamp arms formed at their outer ends withintegral lugs for engaging the opposite edges of the shoe sole. Suchconstructions make it necessary to form the clamp elements in rights andlefts so as to conform, in a general way, to the inner and outer edgecontours of the soles of right and. left shoes. This condition obviouslyadds to the cost of manufacture. The said clamp arms are adjustabletransversely of the foot plate so as to accommodate shoe soles ofdifferent widths but no provisions have been made, heretofore, forreadily altering or changing the clamp structure, either bysubstitutions or adjustments of the parts, to properly fit shoe soles ofdifferent thicknesses or contours. Consequently, the operators ofskating rinks, Where skates are furnished to the patrons, haveexperienced considerable difficulty in fitting skates to the variouskinds or styles of shoes worn by their patrons. In one instance thepatron may be wearing shoes having wide thick soles with relativelystraight edges, for example, a shoe of a very wide toe last. Anotherpatron may be wearing a shoe of the same general size, but of thinnersole, or of different edge contour.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improvedskate clamp structure suitable for use on either roller skates or iceskates, whereby the skate can be readily conditioned to properly fitshoe soles of various sizes,

thicknesses and contours.

A more specific object of invention is to provide a clamp structurewhich is so formed that the clamp for engaging the edge of a shoe solemay be selected of suitable height and incorporated in the clampstructure to accommodate shoe soles of any particular thickness.

Another object is to provide a removable clamp lug for skate clamps ofthe above character which .when applied to a shoe will automaticallyadjust itself to conform substantially to the contour of the edge of theshoe sole, thereby providing a clamp lug which will accommodate shoesoles of various contours.

Another object is to provide a skate clamp lug of the above characterwhich will provide a support for the bottom surface of the shoe soleadjacent the edge thereof so as to prevent drawing the edge of the shoesole downwardly toward the skate clamp arm.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clamp structure forskates which will simplify the manufacture in that the clamp arm and thesupporting guards therefor may be formed in a single size and shape foruse on both right and left sides of skates.

Various other objects of the invention will be made apparent from thedetailed description of one embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a fragmentary plan view of the foot plate of a skate providedwith a clamp structure made in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2, looking in thedirection indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of one of the clamp member arms.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of a supporting guide for supporting oneof the clamp arms in its applied position, and

Fig. 6 is a View in perspective of one of the several sizes of clamp lugmember adapted to be engaged with the clamp arm member.

The clamp structure of the present invention is illustrated inconnection with a foot plate of a roller skate. It should be understood.however, that the improved clamp structure is not limited in its utilityto a roller skate, but may be readily used to clamp any form of skatebody or other device to the sole of a shoe. The said clamp structurecomprises a pair of clamp arms l l--! l of angular configuration whichare slidably supported in guide members I2-l2 secured to the bottom ofthe foot plate It). The said guide members are preferably of identicalconstruction and may be secured to the opposite marginal portions of thefoot plate by means of rivets E3 or other suitable attaching means. Thesaid clamp arms are also of identical constructions, except that theopenings |4| l therein are tapped, respectively, with right and lefthand threads for receiving the correspondingly threaded end portions ofthe clamp screw i5. The central portion of said screw I5 is reduced indiameter and fits in the recessed end of a bearing element ll, dependingfrom the foot plate Ill of the skate. The opposite ends of the screw areformed with the usual squared portions I 8 for engagement with ordinaryskate keys.

In order that the clamping structure may be readily conditioned to fitshoe soles of different thicknesses the portions of the clamp forgripping the vertical edge portions of a shoe sole are removablyattached to the skate, whereby sole gripping members of differentheights may be readily applied to the skate to accommodate shoe soles ofdifferent thicknesses. Accordingly, a skate suitable for application toa shoe of a certain size can be properly fitted to such shoe regardlessof the thickness or contour of the shoe sole, by merely applying to theskate a sole gripping element of the appropriate size.

According to the principles embodied in this invention, the shoe solegripping element adapted to be removably attached to the skate toaccommodate shoe soles of difierent thicknesses, may be the entire clampelement or any part thereof. In the specific embodiment shown herein,the removable gripping elements of the clamp structure are preferably inthe form of lugs lfi-IQ which are supported at the outer. ends of theclamp arms H-ll. The said lugs comprise in each case a verticallydisposed gripping face 29, an inturned upper edge 2| which overlies theupper surface of the shoe sole, a horizontal flange 22 which seats onthe top surface of a, clamp arm and provides a support for the marginalportion of the shoe sole, and a depending locking element 23. Thevertical clamping face 20, as before stated, may be of any desiredheight to fit a shoe sole of a particular thickness. The horizontalflange 22 of the clamp lug may be of the same or greater thickness thanthe foot plate of the skate and is preferably tapered in width to fitcorrespondingly tapered recesses 24 formed. in the foot plate, when thesaid lugs 19 are moved to the limits of their inward movement. Thesupporting function of the horizontal flange 22 prevents the clampingaction on the sole of the shoe from bending the sole downwardly towardthe clamp arm. The locking element 23 of the clamp lug is adapted to beinserted in a substantially T-shaped slot 25 formed in the clamp arm onwhich the lug is supported and is provided with lateral projections26-26 adapted to engage the bottom surface of the clamp arm to providean interlocking engagement therewith. The said projections 26-26, duringthe insertion of the locking element in the slot 25, are arrangedlengthwise of the slot. The lug is then turned transversely of the slotto the position indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, whereby the saidprojections 26-26 assume positions beneath the clamp arm to provide saidinterlocking engagement.

In addition to the interlocking engagement of the clamp lugs I9 and theclamp arms I l where-. by clamp lugs of various sizes may beinterchangeably fitted on the arms, the said lugs are rotatable in theslots 25-25. By reason of the provision for rotation of the lugs in thesaid slots the lugs will automatically adjust their angular position onthe arms ll so as to fit the various edge contours of shoe soles ofdifferent shapes. The capacity for angular adjustment of the said lugsmakes it unnecessary to form them in rights and lefts, since they can beapplied to either side of the right or left skate, as may be desired. Inorder to insure free angular movement of the said lugs, the outer endwalls of the slots 25-25 are curved inwardly, as indicated by thereference numeral 21, and thereby provide a pivot bearing against whichthe locking element of the clamp lug is adapted to bear.

While the invention is illustrated herein in connection with certainspecific embodiments, the disclosure herein will readily suggest variousmodified constructions for accomplishing all or part of the functionsand advantages hereinabove referred to. It should be understood,therefore, that the present invention contemplates all suchchanges instructure which come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A clamp device for removably attaching a skate to a shoe comprising amember adjustably supported for movement transversely of the skate, andan upwardly extending element for engagement with the shoe and having areadily removable interlocking engagement with said adjustable memberwhereby elements adapted to fit shoe soles of various thicknesses may beinterchangeably fitted on said adjustable member, the said interlockingengagement being of sufficient looseness to permit the said element tomove about a vertical axis to accommodate shoe soles of differentshapes.

2. A clamp structure for removably attaching a skate to a shoecomprising a pair of clamp arms adjustably supported for movementtransversely of the skate and formed with slots in their outer endportions, clamp lugs for engaging the opposite edge portions of a shoesole and having depending portions insertable in the slots of said armsto provide readily detachable interlocking engagements therewith,whereby lugs suitable for soles of various thicknesses may beinterchangeably fitted on said arms.

3. A clamp structure for removably attaching a skate to a shoecomprising a pair of clamp arms adjustably supported for movementtransversely of the skate and formed with elongated slots at their outerend portions, clamp lugs for engaging the opposite edge portions of ashoe sole and having depending portions insertable in the slots of saidarms to provide readily disengageable interlocking engagement therewith,the said depending portions of the lugs being formed with lateralprojections adapted, by movement of the lugs about their vertical axes,to engage the bottom surface of said arms and thereby hold the said lugsin their interlocking engagement with said arms.

4. A clamp structure for removably attaching a skate to a shoecomprising a pair of clamp arms adjustably supported for movementtransversely of the skate and formed with substantially T- shaped slotsin their outer end portions, clamp lugs for engaging the opposite edgeportions of a shoe and having depending portions insertable in the saidslots of said arms to provide readily detachable engagement therewith,and the outer end walls of said slots being formed to provide inwardlycurved bearing surfaces for the depending portions of said lugs.

5. A clamp structure for removably attaching a skate to a shoecomprising a pair of clamp arms adjustably supported for movementtransversely of the skateand formed at their outer ends with slots,clamp lugs supported on said arms for engagement with the opposite edgeportions of a shoe sole and having depending locking elements adapted tobe inserted in said slots to hold the said lugs in their appliedpositions on the arms, the said lugsbeing movable in said slots tovarious angular positions on the arms to accommodate shoe soles ofvarious contours.

6. In combination with the foot-plate of a skate, a clamp structure forsecuring said plate to the sole portion of a shoe comprising clamp armsadjustably supported on the bottom of said foot-plate for movementtransversely of the skate toaccommodate shoe soles of diiferent widths,and shoe sole engaging lugs having pivotal interlocking engagement withthe outer ends of said arms and having a horizontally disposed portionfor engaging the bottom surface of the shoe sole which portion tapers inwidth toward the footplate of the skate; the opposite edges of thefootplate being formed with recesses to receive porother member toprovide a readily detachable in- 10 terlocking engagement of saidmember.

HENRY F. WHITCOMB, JR.

